self_inflictedexhile | nysm / tvd } { if you will, please move in closer

nysm / tvd } { if you will, please move in closer

In another lifetime, Dylan Rhodes never existed. In another lifetime, he didn't need to, because Lionel Shrike never drown in the Hudson River, Dylan Rhodes stayed Jacob Shrike, and his life went in a very different direction.

At age fifteen, his father started teaching him the tricks of the trade: sleight of hand, how to build a rig, how to do a little bit of actual magic, despite the fact that probably wasn't something he should be sharing, just yet. Shortly after that, Jacob met a young Alma Dray, tagging along with her grandfather, a friend of his father's, stopping by to check up on him. They grew up together, life continued on, and Jacob eventually went to college for Theatre Design and Stagecraft. At twenty-two, just after graduation, Jacob was chosen to join the Eye, his test to help the LVPD clear the name of another magician, despite all the evidence in the world making him seem guilty as sin. There, Jacob met Michael Fuller, his partner a lifetime away, and the two became friends as they managed, despite all odds, to pull off what had been asked of Jacob by the Eye. He continued on into a career as a stage magician in the Eye, eventually married Alma, and continued to occasionally work with Fuller as a consultant, when time allowed.

Over the course of the next few decades, Jacob and Alma tried to have children and failed, and eventually adopted one Jack Wilder, age 10. Using Eye resources, he helped Merritt McKinney get a good lawyer and clear his name after his brother screwed him over. He followed the rising stars that were J. Daniel Atlas and Henley Reeves, and when they decided to call it quits, pulled the both of them back together, forcing Daniel to give Henley a more active role in the show. And eventually, yes, he called the four of them together, not for revenge but something similar, to get them into the Eye. And somewhere along the way, Jacob and Alma tried for children again, and this time managed, giving Jack a brother, Lio, Lionel, named after his grandfather.

Basically, this is the best possible timeline.

And now, it's just after dinner, Jacob off to his nightly rehearsal at 5Pointz, that his space, now, like his father before him. He takes a detour tonight, though, to grab a cup of coffee, beforehand, a little bit of magic pulled around him, to make himself not completely invisible, but at least a little less noticeable. Normally, he doesn't mind showing off or signing autographs, when a fan approaches, and fans do often approach, his notoriety somewhere up there with Penn and Teller, Seigfried and Roy, but -- not tonight. He's not feeling it tonight, a little tired for whatever reason, hence the coffee, so magic it is. And now he's sitting at a table, idly people-watching as he leans into his cup. Have at him, if you can still see him (or, maybe, in certain party's cases, sense him) despite his best efforts.

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"Which means he didn't offer up whatever you need to get rid of the thing, I'm guessing," Dylan mutters, making a face. He throws a glance back at the building, before, "Also gonna guess you wanna try and break in again, later."

Based on the fact that he saw her take some of the magic out of the wards, even if Damien didn't.

"Maybe. He knows we're onto him, so he's probably going to be bailing soon."

Stealing the wards could go one of two ways. It'll either give them room to get back in, or make their mysterious friend a bigger target. There's also something she's kind of wanted to try.

"But I think he's hoping that the Croatoan will tear through the Eye before it decides to turn on him."

"He's managed to stay off its radar for this long." And from what Dylan understands from what she's said, that's a feat unto itself. "He might get his wish."

Or he will unless they do something about it. Dylan glances back to the building, that in mind, before, "We might be able to use me to bait it." To what point and purpose, if they don't have something of Damien's to dismiss it, he's not sure, but he can't just sit around and let it tear through the Eye.

Josie tips her head to the side, considering, because that's not a bad idea. They could use it to lure him here and force Damien's hand. She glances around, to make sure they're far enough away, before placing a hand on Dylan's shoulder and leaning in close.

"If we could lure it back to the house and trap it inside with him, he wouldn't have a choice. If it comes to his life or his pride, I think he'd choose his life."

They just have to get the creature here and get it in the house. Which means they might needs someone with more secrets than Dylan.

"If the guy's as much of a schmuck as it sounds like he is?" Dylan's likely to agree. He glances back at the house, either way. "So, how do we find it to get it back here?"

He's still sure he's good enough bait, but they still need to get it to notice him, to follow him into the house. While he knows there are people in the Eye with far more secrets than him, however, he doesn't want to think it might be headed in their direction, drawn in it. He wants to think this is something where he can stand somewhere, scream look at me, for lack of better wording, and catch and keep the thing's attention.

"We'd need either need a super juicy high quality secret, or someone with so many secrets that it can't ignore it."

She rubs the back of her neck as she tries to weigh their options based on who she knows is available.

"If we want to go for quantity, I know a three hundred year-old unkillable monster that could fit the bill."

Yeah, that's definitely a whole other caliber of firepower, secrets-wise -- a nuke to his assault rifle. He shakes his head faintly, more than a little taken aback, that in mind, before he finally asks, "You think they'd be wiling to help?"

And does she think it wouldn't run the risk of backfiring, for all that she called whoever it is a monster, too?

She nods as she pulls out her phone to text Hope. She was mostly referring to a monster in the technical sense, but. Marcel was raised by the Mikaelsons so the apple doesn't always fall far from the tree.

"Marcel Gerard is a lot of things, but he tends to want to avoid massacres. If we explain the situation to him, he'll help."

And hopefully he and Rebekah are still in New York.

"Marcel," Dylan starts, stops, the namedrop both fueling his surprise and helping to assuage it somewhat. He's never met the man, himself, but he's heard tell of him through members of the Eye living in New Orleans. He thinks, from what he's heard, that she might be right that he might want to help, but, "Jesus, I didn't know he was in New York."

He's also not sure he would have expected her to know him, personally, but.

"He moved here a few years ago with his wife, but he was trying to keep it on the down low." Which is a feat because he tends to be a bit of a showman, but that's neither here nor there. "But I happen to be besties with his sister, so I have an in."

She hits send on the text message, before looking up at him again. "Do you think there's somewhere nearby that we can wait until he gets back to me? I don't want to go far in case he tries to move."

Dylan huffs out a breath, shaking his head. When his moment of incredulous passes -- or at the question, it's hard to tell, really -- he rakes his tongue over his teeth and throws a glance back over his shoulder.

"I got a friend who has a house around here, but we won't be able to see this one from there," he tells her as he returns his attentions to her. "Barring that, I can probably get us into somewhere closer." Break in, keep whoever's home from noticing them, and sneak upstairs to keep an eye on Damien's house.

While that works for Josie's purposes, Marcel wouldn't be able to join them, unless he can charm himself an invite. Either way, Hope is on it, so they just need to find somewhere to hide out.

"Works for me."

What's a little B and E when you're trying to save the world?

He's going to guess that she means she wants to keep eyes on Damien's place, still, and so he nods to the buildings across the street. "Lady's choice, then."

He'll let her pick where she wants to set up shop, exactly. The only caveat he might offer is that it's not the one directly across from Damien, for all that he still might be able to see them, there.

Yeah, she would have vetoed that one herself. She glances up, studying the buildings for a moment, before picking out one sitting cady corner to Damian's place, across the street.

"How's that one?"

Dylan glances between the building she indicates, Damien's and back again, before ultimately nodding. "Yeah, that'll do." A pause, and before he starts in that direction, he adds, "Stay close."

There's the feel of him pulling his magic around them before he starts forward. It lingers, heavy but not unpleasant, not unlike a blanket, as they cross the street, and approach the house. He stops when they reach the door, glancing back at her, and then reaches for the door knob. There's a flash, a spark, like a shock of static electricity, and then he's pushing it open. He slips inside and gestures for her to close the door behind her, before heading deeper in, keeping an eye out for stairs up to the second floor. They'll be able to see Damien's apartment better from there; they'll disturb whoever lives here less from there.

She ... would like to learn that spell at some point. But later, when they have less dire things to worry about. Once they're inside, she perches by the window to keep an eye on the house.

"Sorry again, for taking over your evening. Also maybe apologies in advance for Marcel being Marcel."

He'll see what he can do about teaching her, if and when she asks. For now, however, he finds somewhere to lean without straying far, just in case and for any number of reasons. He doesn't want to miss anything in here that will get them caught anymore than he wants to miss anything going on outside.

"Long as he doesn't decide to eat me or flashy thing me ... " He'll live.

Are you old enough to know what he's talking about Josie? Are you old enough to remember Men in Black, to get that reference?

"Flashy thing?"

Yes, she gets the reference. Her father was a nerd and not above using the TV as a babysitter. But amused as she is, she can't help but correct the terminology.

"You mean compulsion, and he can't. You're a witch, which means you can't be compelled. No supernatural creatures can." Then she pauses. "Except for doppelgangers, which ... I never figured that one out. Maybe it's because they're too close to human."

"Huh," Dylan answers, effectually. Well, that certainly explains a few things. It's also a comfort, more personally, for any number of reasons. "Alright, well. We probably won't have a problem, then."

Probably. This won't be the first time Dylan's dealt with a dick-waving asshole, so if that's all Josie is really apologizing for, he'll live.

Josie isn't holding her breath given a Mikaelson adjacent assholish nature. But she is surprised that he doesn't know that about vampires.

"Have you not run into a lot of them? Vampires, I mean."

"A few," Dylan allows. He pops one should in a shrug. "But I've always tried to steer clear of them, if and when I could, for what's probably obvious reasons." Never mind the fact that he could probably have held his own against a vampire, if and when it came to blows.

She nods. "I basically grew up with them. My mom was one, my friends. I get why they get a bad rap, and some of them really are dangerous, but ... not all of them are bad. Some of them just need help."

"So, not that far removed from people," he concludes. A pause follows, and then he allows, "I guess witches aren't much different. See also: our friend across the street."

#notallsupernaturals?

"Yeah." Josie laughs, before shaking her head. "I mean, even I've had my own brushes with darkness that I'm still making amends for. As much as vampires can be really terrible, I have to think that they can change too."

Dylan would like to say that he, personally, hasn't -- maybe he would have, if and when his father hadn't resurfaced from the Hudson, but. But that would be a lie, even so. He may not have gone quite as dark as planning his revenge for thirty years, here, like he did a lifetime away, but he's still had his moments. It's just his nature. It's human nature.

That in mind, he hums, nods. A smile follows, so she doesn't think he's mocking her, as he tells her, "It's good, that -- that hope or whatever."

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